The present invention relates to a storage apparatus (also known as a disk array apparatus or storage subsystem) which controls storing of data with respect to a storage unit such as a hard disk drive (hereinafter abbreviated as “HDD”), and particularly to a technique for utilizing and controlling system configuration definition information such as device addresses for utilizing storage apparatuses in a computer system configured by including the storage apparatus and a host computer (hereinafter abbreviated as “host”) which requests data input and output with respect to the storage apparatus.
With increase in an amount of data handled in a computer system, capacity of a storage area provided by the storage apparatus is also made high in a computer system configured by including a storage apparatus which is communicably connected to a host computer of a user side via a network etc.
Before utilization of the storage apparatus, the host side is required to have I/O (input/output) configuration information as the system configuration definition, in order to perform accesses to devices provided in a storage area of the storage apparatus which is connected to a host. Conventionally, for example in mainframe-based connection, the host has retained, as the I/O configuration information, the device addresses which are control information used to uniquely specify an object in accessing the devices provided in the storage apparatus, so that the device addresses correspond one-on-one to physical structures of a side of the storage apparatus. That is, all the device addresses handled in the storage apparatus are also retained on the host side. In the access of the storage apparatus to the device from the host, the host specifies a device address and issues a request (command); and, according to the specified device address, the storage apparatus accesses a physical storage area which is provided on a HDD corresponding to the device, in order to perform an input/output process such as read/write of data. Note that the “device” indicates a unit of a physical or logical storage volume which is reserved in the storage area provided by, for example, the HDD in the storage apparatus.
Also, in conventional storage apparatus and computer system, in addition to the access (disk access) performed from the host to devices which are provided on the HDD of the storage apparatus, an access (tape access) is made to a magnetic tape unit which is connected in the system, in order to, for example, back up the data. When the data of the device of the storage apparatus is to be inputted to and outputted from the magnetic tape unit, the magnetic tape is utilized by being appropriately mounted on the address of the magnetic tape unit. The magnetic tape which is mounted on the magnetic tape unit is identified by identification information such as volume serial numbers (VOLSER). Since the above-described magnetic tape is mounted, the data of the device provided in the storage apparatus can be inputted to and outputted from the area of the magnetic tape by specifying the address of the magnetic tape unit from the host and the storage apparatus.